Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The new Wal-Mart on East Independence Boulevard opened today with a 7:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony that caps years of construction and brings a big retailer back to a largely empty stretch of expressway.

The 148,500 square-foot store is newly built, on the site of the former Amity Gardens Shopping Center, and will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight daily. The store will have a Subway restaurant, a portrait studio and Walmart Money Center, in addition to the merchandise and grocery departments.

Wal-Mart says it will employ about 300 associates, and about 85 of those are filling new positions (the remainder are presumably transfers from the old Eastway Drive store). The average wage for a Wal-Mart associate in North Carolina is $12.39 an hour, Wal-Mart says.

The new store has a number of green features, Wal-Mart says, such as recycled cement in the flooring and skylights and LED bulbs to cut down on lighting energy.

“The layout of the store is easy to navigate, which will save our customers time as they shop for everyday necessities,” said store manager Rodney Hatley, in a statement.

And though the store will bring some life back to a largely-vacated portion of Independence Boulevard, the store move will leave another empty box in east Charlotte, at the retailer's former location on Eastway Drive, near Central Avenue. That's just a little bit more than 1 1/2 miles from shuttered Eastland Mall. No word yet on what's going in that space.

"Just what we need is more traffic on Independence Blvd..." Yes we do. RETAIL traffic that is. I can't imagine a Wal-mArt is going to generate more traffic on a regional freeway. People had to use Indy to get to the old one on Eastway. I mean god forbid people use a highway to got to local stores... They should have to drive 5 miles out of the city to do their shopping... geez

More Traffic? How long have you lived here, Pottsie? Less than 20 years ago, that area around Independence had numerous shops, especially retail and restaurants.

It's easy to get off of the 74 freeway, heading SSE, so maybe you need to stay out on the farm. I guess the city life and city traffic is too much for some. Sorry, but Charlotte is major city and we like it that way. Keep it growing and going.

It's a great convenience to many who work Uptown and travel home, down 74. People can stop and pick up their bread, milk and eggs.

They put in a small turn off lane as you are outbound Independence and it's right off the highway and right into the parking lot! There isn't enough distance for more than 3 cars in the lane, so it will be another Concord Mills/I 85 issue where the traffic waiting to exit will tie up an entire travel lane and back up for half a mile. This is a tragedy waiting to happen.

"Let the accidents begin. Can't wait until they install a stop light at the entrance to their parking lot."It is on an exit on a freeway. Where are they going to put a stop light in. Why would they want one.

"Let's hope all the illegals from the Eastway location won't be able to make it that far. If they try to run across Independence they may be out of luck real quick."- Its kind of sad that biggots blame a retail store for immigration issues. Illegal aliens go to other stores and no one blames the store for selling them stuff. Wal-Mart obviously isn't the only business that illegal aliens shop at. How can a store determine anyone's immigration status before allowing them in? Is that the place of a business? No. Biggots and their "logic" Geez

"God help us."God has helped us! 85 new jobs on a highway that hasn't had any development in over 20 years. heck it has been decaying. The power of prayer and hard work combined is awesome. they cleaned up a brown field and built a very well constructed building with a service road to connect to Coliseum Shopping center, created jobs, usd recycled materials etc.

Walmart hires only part time people now and starts you at $7.90 an hour not $12.+. If your able to get 20 hours a week working 5 days a week your lucky. The cheapest thing Walmart has is its hourly workers and they make sure you know it...

To the knucklehead that suggested people are going to get run over trying to jump the wall on Independence, chill out. The last bus stop is on the other side of Sharon Amity, where there are stop lights and crosswalks in all 4 directions.

My question is, how do you get to the store from inbound Independence? Do you have to turn on Sharon Amity and somehow find your way to Pierson?

They put in a small turn off lane as you are outbound Independence and it's right off the highway and right into the parking lot!(you left off th e part about the Pierson Dr. exit

There isn't enough distance for more than 3 cars in the lane,(Wrong. The turn lane is on their property. The lane that leads into the turn lane that is on their property is almost a mile long. The turn lane goes all the way to Eastway.)

"so it will be another Concord Mills/I 85 issue where the traffic waiting to exit will tie up an entire travel lane and back up for half a mile. This is a tragedy waiting to happen."(The freeway portion of independence is already an accident waiting to happen. Poor road design. The Walmart turn lane is an improvement over the former 90 degree turn-in/out. Two reasons. 1. it only allows traffic to exit the highway 2. people aren't going to have to stop and turn in at 90 degrees. The former cutout required people to stop and make a 90 degree right turn. Also people were puling out at 90 degrees into a freeway with traffic easily traveling 55mph and above. Highly doubt the Wal-mArt has the capacity, nevermind the draw of Concord mills which is litereally thousands of times larger and draws traffic off of a much larger more heavily traveled interstate, nor does does Concord Mills have direct access to the interstate.)

"There will be many pedestrians struck and killed on Independence as all the Eastway crowd tries to jump the concrete slabs in the middle of the interstate."Doesn't make sense. There is an underpass at teh walmart and an overpass at Eastway. Businesses can't help if people want thir product bad enough to die for it. Two people got tun over at the same interesction up town back to back two days in a row. No one is saying to stop developing or running businesses uptown...

"That is a lie. It's not 'on an exit on a freeway'. There is a turn right off Independence. It's not an 'exit', so yes, there will be accidents and traffic will be unGodly along that stretch."The piersoon Dr. exit has existed for years. the sign clearly says "EXIT". it is clearly an EXIT. The turnout lane is not an exit. The turnout lane is additional access, and is on their property. It is an improvement to the previously existing 90 degree turn out, which rwequired traffic to stop to enter and almost stop when people exited. The new turnout does not let people pull out into traffic at all. it only allows people to turn out of the highway. it is clearly an improvement.

"Walmart hires only part time people now and starts you at $7.90 an hour not $12.+. If your able to get 20 hours a week working 5 days a week your lucky. The cheapest thing Walmart has is its hourly workers and they make sure you know it..."- then don't work there... 300 jobs at $7.90 are better than no jobs fo 0 $

Importatn to note the wal-Mart has an exit. In additon, there is a turnout only lane that is on their property. it does not lead directly to the parkinglot. It leads to a service road that buffers the parking lot. The service road accomodates traffic that is exiting the highway and allows it to safely fill in the parkinglot. It will also make future redevelopment of Coliseum shopping center have safer access. In addition to the service road/turnout lane, ther are two entrances on Pierson Dr. that are right of the Pierson Dr. Exit. If traffic actually backed up onto independence, people can use the 3 other lanes to bypass and/or enter the wal-mart at Pierson Dr. So there is no reason for traffic to back up on Independence.

Well, a blog post about Wal-Mart has been up for a few hours, and it's already degenerated into a series of racist epithets (which I have tried to remove), personal attacks on people, bets about whether pedestrians will get run over and all kinds of other nasty stuff. This is a simple plea for a small vestige of politeness and decency. Please, even though this is the Internet, show a little respect.

"You can be of another nationality and shop at Wal-Mart, you just shouldn't be in the counrty illegally or bring anchor babies."- FYI, You can't bring an anchor baby to the U.S. An "anchor baby" is a U.S. citizen who was born in the U.S. Whether a person is an illegal alien or not has no bearing on the responsiblity of Wal-Mart. Please refrain from spouting your political agendas on the forum about a new business that jsut opened.

Glad to see wal-mart is generating a lot of attention and traffic and consumer $$$!!! More development to come for people who live, work, and own property on Indy. God forbid the formerly most prosperous road in Charlotte actually get a little piece of the pie... It's funny how people disrespect the area (that used to be the retail center of the region) for being a dump and then someone makes an investment and suddenly the same people are mad and jealous and want it to stay run down...

Funny reading the comment about the turning lane off Independence. I was there with my husband about 40 minutes ago.....and yes, we took the turning lane and it went right into the side of Wal-Mart. There was no back up at the time, but I can see where that will turn out to be a major mistake.

If you think Independence blvd should only be a freeway, then put the money up or convince your state legislator's to buy out the landowners that are legally entitled to expect access to the road unless compensated for their loss. you can't have your cake and eat it too...Personally, I don't think that Independence should be used ONLY to drive business to matthews, when there is ample retail space that previously existed long before the build out of matthews began. As a resident who lives along Independence, I expect and will demand convenient shopping and expect the city and state to help make that available, just as it has existed in the past (and was the most vibrant in the region). The road has been redesigned and will never handle ht retail it once did, but retail should be expected and it should be of this type.

"As a resident who lives along Independence, I expect and will demand convenient shopping and expect the city and state to help make that available, just as it has existed in the past (and was the most vibrant in the region)."Yep, an old timer cake eater/haver. Let's stop progress so you can pretend it is the good ol' days down on lovely Independence Blvd.

"Yep, an old timer cake eater/haver. Let's stop progress so you can pretend it is the good ol' days down on lovely Independence Blvd."B.S. there is no doubt in my statement that there will be less retai on Independence. the FACT is the landowners haven't gotten bought out. The people that own property and pay taxes and have done so, long before Matthews developed Indy. They have a moral and legal right to develop their property. Unless you and/or the state is willing to buy them out, they retain those rights and that expectation. If you aren't willing to pay for progress, then don't expect somone else to just 'get out of the way'. You want your cake but you don't want to pay for it. I paid for my cake and I expect to eat it. Leaving independence to rot without a buyout and without allowing redevelopment is short sighted and not "progress" it is also morally and legally wrong.

If I have lived within the city limits for 50 years and paid taxes in Charlotte, and now I have to drive to matthews (outside of the city limits)to shop outside of the city limits and pay taxes outdside of the city limits, how is that "progress"? I pay taxes in Charlotte and expect my taxes to go backinto infrastructure in Charlotte, not matthews. yes I wnat my cake and eat it too. I want to live and shop in the same city, just like 3/4 of Charlotte is able to do. Just like people in Matthews are able to do.

Wal-Mart is Wal-Mart, depending on your views, obviously it could be heaven or hell. But for them to receive approval to construct a new facility while abandoning the old is irresponsible of both Wal-Mart and the city. When big box facilities are exited like this, they tend to become wasteland, luckily this property is already arranged to have a new occupant. That doesn't mean the entire shopping facility will remain active and successful.

Why couldn't they maintain this location and renovate it like they have done to many other facilities?

Independence was once a simple highway leading through the area with a simple median and even left turn lanes, no "wall" for a median to save space. http://www.gribblenation.com/ncpics/charlotte/indblvd01.JPG I think it's safe to say Independence was NOT designed to carry a dramatic amount of traffic at the high speeds expected today, the current image of Independence is merely an attempt to do that. The "freeway" area between 277 and Sharon Amity is unsafe, congested and unwelcome to retail. Call it what you want, seems like it would be more reasonable to improve access from alternate roads than attempt to rebuild that corridor for retail access.

Before long, Independence will require reconstruction to improve the environment along that corridor. Mary Newsom even wrote a post regarding running a light rail line right down the center of it with a discouraging feel to it, who in the world wants to stand on a platform awaiting a train while listening to cars zoom by? http://marynewsom.blogspot.com/2011/01/hot-proposal-for-indy-blvd-should-spark.html

My personal take on Charlotte is that those born and raised require a history lesson of the city, many appear to have forgotten or even knew of Charlotte's yesteryear. At the same time, just because Charlotte has been "like this" for 20 years now, or since residing here, doesn't mean it has ALWAYS been, this is for you transplants.

Don't think for a second this is a regular Super Wal-Mart with all the bells and whistles. They know better than that. This location will be trashed very quickly just like the Eastway store.

Of course they won't let this Wal-Mart be 24 hours, for the same reasons they had to cut that out at the Eastway store: The customers were mostly drinking and high the later it got, and so they had to start shutting down at 10.

Wonder if they will bother with door greeters here. The Eastway store had people at the door that were scared to death to even look at you when you came in. A friend of mine worked the door there for a short time and was assaulted once, and constantly cursed out by the 'patrons' because she 'disrespedted' them by speaking to them or looking at them wrong.

J,I have lived in charlotte for many decades and remember when Indy had houses on it. That said Amity Gardens where Wal-Mart just developed was a big box shopping center. Independence was designed for big box retail when it became a highway. When it became a freeway, that didn’t automatically change. That will not change until and unless the state or city buys people out.Wal-Mart leased it’s previous location. Wal-Mart upgraded very much, they cleaned up a brown field, and built a green store. It also replaced a literally falling apart abandoned shopping center with environmental damage below. So leaving a big box behind is a moot point and not the concern of Wal-Mart. That is the concern of the owner of their former building.State law does not allow the city to put subjective norms on rezoning, i.e. get into the operations of a business like making them stay where they are or forcing them to rent.Eastway was too small, They don’t own eastway, and it is not as good of a location to attract regional business. I didn’t see where Light rail is approved for Independence. It isn’t and so far looks like it wont be. Not to worry, there is enough ROW for the Light Rail if it is ever approved. This has been clarified many times by various planning committees such as CATS, CDOT, NCDOT, MTC. MUMPO.

Ely...I don't think anyone is reading your comments. Every single article on any local news page seems to incite this type of insanity. You could probably blog that it is a nice Carolina day and these folks would turn against each other like feral dogs. Too bad! I like the information you provide...thanks! PS...maybe you could offer a spelling class? Most of the offenders have atrocious spelling and grammar errors!

@12:53No one said it is a super Wal-Mart, but it is actually a very wel constricted attractive building. It does have a much larger grocery selection than Eastway. The location will be 24 hours after it has been open for a short period. That was part of the rezoning.The thugs and illegals may have ruined it for you. I am determined not to let bigots ruin it for me. I will keep shopping there and frequenting businesses close to where I live. Police stats show that any thugs that might be frequenting the Eastway store, aren’t committing robberies or violent crime at the location at Eastway. I suspect that will stay that way at the new location. Maybe you have a problem with perception. i.e. I would be interested in how you determine if someone is an illegal alien and how that necessarily ruins your shopping experience.

@12:56. The greeters at the door are scared of you? They aren’t scared of me… hmm. Door greeters are at the new location. I think it is better than not having them. That is just me and my common sense talking though...

Walmart would not have built at the Amity gardens tract if they didn't think they could make a go of it. With its proximity to Elizabeth, Chantilly, Plaza-Midwood, Oakhurst, plus all working class neighborhoods on the eastside, along with the visibility on Independence, this location is a sure fire win for them. As far other retail on independence, that will be much more difficult on those tracts with the expressway format. Coliseum Chopping center and Capri, etc. would do well to be replaced with mid-rise apartments or offices. The spot where the motels and old Ihop would probably do well as a computer mainframe warehouse (soumething with lots of space but little people traffic). The point is, these tracts can be re-used with practical purposes once the red tap of right of way and zoning can be streamlined.

As for light rail or BRT stations in the median of a freeway, Mary newsome and others worried unnecessarily about passengers waiting at stations while listening to cars zooming by. I don't know why. There are transit stations in highway medians in Chicago, LA, St. Louis, Atlanta and other cities and it's no big deal. But then again, I guess a vrey few, but very vocal people love to pooh-pooh any notion of Charlotte emulating other major cities. They'd assume stay on the farm, I guess.

I am from New York and choose not to live in Charlotte, so I moved to the weatlthy part of Mathews, but work here in Charlotte. I use Independence as a freeway to get in and out of Charlotte as fast as I can, so I sure don't need a Wal-Mart slowing me down. When I go to the beach, I don't want that sorry town of Monroe to be in my way, so the quicker they get a bypass constructed for that, the better off I am.This makes me furious that they are still trying to slow things down on Indpendence for the drivers. You all can take your memories of the old south and get out of town. It's not your city anymore.

Independence may have been designed for big box retail initially, but when it changed to a freeway it limited accessibility. Now it's simply a major thoroughfare for the people living near or beyond 485. As for the departure of the previous location, leased or not, their concern or not, I'm sure an agreement could have been made to renovate the store to improve the facility.

All this new location does is further displace and separate business and transit time.

It's not that light rail down Independence was ever approved, there has obviously been discussion as a potential.

Regarding the emulation of major cities; Mary Newsom is not one to "stay on the farm," it's a valid point that needs to be acknowledged. Just because other cities are doing it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. I'm well aware of Chicago's CTA having lived there, the Blue and Red line operating in the middle of the Dan Ryan and Kennedy are the examples you speak of. They are uncomfortable and busy feeling platforms hence the desire by some, if not most, to avoid this type of transit development.

With young cities like Charlotte attempting to transition into the full spectrum of public transit, they have the ability to learn from other cities and improve. I have no issues with using Chicago's transit and am already planning on moving back due to Charlotte's lack of true progression towards more sustainable development; with that in mind, I agree with her proposal to avoid transit platforms for light rail in the middle of Independence.

@JIndy is not a dedicated freeway and is not going to transition to a dedicated freeway under any existing plans which means not for over 30 years (if ever) will it be a dedicated freeway. It is not simply a major thoroughfare for people living near 485. It is a designed as a hybrid freeway and it is home to hundreds of many previously developed properties and cuts through over (100,000 residential units)inner-ring neighborhoods. It historically has served those communities, and will never be able to avoid that under the current hybrid road design. This Wal-Mart is evidence of that. It is also evidence that the inner-city neighborhoods are going to secure adequate retail for their shopping needs despite what people outside of the city limits want or need. While your vision of progress and good planning includes further urban sprawl, many people who pay taxes in the city limits do not feel that way and it is not in their interest to support that model. “I'm sure an agreement could have been made to renovate the store to improve the facility” I’m sure it couldn’t and it didn’t. Again the Eastway location was not owned by Wal-Mart, nor was it located for regional access and visabilityThe LTR plans include a stop at the Wal-Mart exit. The Wa-Mart fits with all versions of transit plans No transit, Express Bus, BRT or LRT. ROW has been preserved for it.Have fun in Chicago.

"How is Independence Blvd supposed to be a Freeway with a new Wal*Mart that doesn't even have a proper turn lane? Poor Planning."

It isn't supposed to be a freeway. it is supposed to be a hybrid freeway. The state built the road on the cheap and didn't buyout the landowners flanking the road. If you don't like the turn lane, use the exit that is a few feet away.

@2:25. You are fooling yourself. Who cares what it's 'supposed to be'. It is a freeway and will only become more of one, like it or not. Putting stores up and down the side is only going to cause tragedy. Cars are now reaching speeds of 70 mph and better when they pass this WalMart. People will take the turn lane, and there will be accidents and back-ups. They could go down, but they won't. Wal-Mart should never have put the turn lane there.

@2:27 apparently it isn't a dedicated freeway. Exhibit A: A new Wal-Mart just opened today. there are hundreds retail parcels that face the street and connect directly to it with 90 degree turn out/in.I am well aware of the dangers of the road design. Until and unless the state finishes the remaining 7 miles to 485, there wont be any more widening and the widened section of the road wont be widened again unti after thatis complete. At this rate the first widening plan is progressing at 1 mile per decade... So either the state is going to buy the landowners out or they are going to be dealing with a mess as these landowners make ful use of their property rights amd access to the ROW. What else are they going to do without a buyout for property that is essentially condemned...

You don’t have to tell them to slow down, either they slow down or they get hurt. I totally agree about the cluster on Indy, but Wal-Mart is on an exit. As far as the other 200 parcels that open directly to the ROW at 90 degrees, NCDOT is well aware of the issue but apparently doesn’t think it is unsafe and has no interest in purchasing those parcels, or providing some sort of safe accommodations with the right lanes. They recently raised the speed limit “for safety reasons” (OMG) So that is what we are left with. Land owners are going to keep developing and exercising their property rights unless and until they get a buyout. What else are they supposed to do? They can’t even abandon their buildings. They have to pay taxes and pay for demolition. If I were you I would share my displeasure with my reps in Raleigh.

I've debated commenting on this post all day. I think that some of the comments here are folks being "over the top" and don't really reflect the views of the majority of Charlotte residents.

Indeed, the turn onto Indy from the new WM parking lot is concerning. Drivers can use the Pierson Dr ramp and it will put you at another entrance to the property. You can also use side roads to navigate to Albemarle Rd and Monroe Rd. No need to tun onto Indy.

As gas prices climb to higher highs in the next few years, folks will demand development that is more dense and compact. Our city will evolve. The suburban ideal can not be sustained with gas that's higher that $5/gal. The inner ring neighborhoods that folks left for the suburbs will become more and more attractive.

I'm white and I chose to buy a house in an east Charlotte neighborhood. I like the diversity. I like being able to actually AFFORD a house in a neighborhood that is a 15 minute drive to most points in central Charlotte.

With all this talk about crime, the two most recent high profile crimes in CLT were the Loomis shooting at Foxcroft and the manager murder in Ballentyne.

"Well, you know it's bad when the Wal Mart greeter gets assaulted. I fear for the future of this new store because of the slummy and crime ridden area."

Yeah sure… So the last store was packed from sun up to sun down since it opened almost 20 years ago in “the slummy crime ridden area” and relocated to a road with traffic that rivals an interstate and is surrounded by single-family homes…. Yet, the Eastway store made so much money that they outgrew it and were willing to stop renting , buy land, spend over 30 million dollars purchasing, rezoning, demoing and redeveloping an existing shopping center on a brown field. They now have more visibility, easier access and there is literally thousands more traffic passing this store every hour of the day. I am so worried for them (sarc).

@3:48 The vast majority of people in Charlotte do not feel the way the hate mongers on the internet do. When allowed to say things anonymously, they are loud and show their evil nature no matter the locale.I hope you take the time to get to know Charlotte and the spirit of a really good-hearted city. It has been very good to me. and I hope Charlotte will be good to you as well.

Maybe I need to get out more. havent been up indy blvd that far since it was turned in to a freeway, if thats what we call it.

What I do recall is all the retail shops closed because there was no way to get there if you were on indy blvd going WEST towards downtown. Back then the only way I saw to get there was if you were coming from downtown heading east..you simply make a right hand turn but heading west toward downtown I didnt see any turn-off at all...I think you had to go way past it and then do a u-turn or something like that.....anyway, what I recall was all the retail shops closed cause they lost biz from people heading west cause they didnt want the hassles to get there......So, whats changed? I see people commenting that there is now a turn off of some sort so people heading west could now get in there without having to go way past it and go thru all the hassles? Guess I need to drive by there and see exactly what everybody is talking about cause last I remember, everything shut down there because people heading west couldnt access those stores easily. No clue where this new access is people are talking about.....I mean, if Im heading west, can I simply make a left turn in to the store or do you still have to 'jump thru hoops' to get there if your heading west? No reply necessary...No plan to read any more comments.....its a waste of time....Im a white male aged 49 and frankly im disgusted by the non stop racist comments.....Those of you making racist comments just remember...karma is a powerful thing and very real....So look in all directions because karma will ensure the racists are the ones who get what they think....

Oh, but this does reflect most of the opionions of Charlotte. I am a mother and live in South Park and wouldn't dare set foot in East Charlotte. I have heard stories about that Wal Mart and it scares the living hell out of me.

Can't wait to see what happens when the same customers attempt to migrate over to the new Wal Mart and try to steal the shopping carts. They won't get far trying to push those things across Independence!

"Can't wait to see what happens when the same customers attempt to migrate over to the new Wal Mart and try to steal the shopping carts. They won't get far trying to push those things across Independence!"Just use the underpass.

"Oh, but this does reflect most of the opionions of Charlotte. I am a mother and live in South Park and wouldn't dare set foot in East Charlotte. I have heard stories about that Wal Mart and it scares the living hell out of me."Funny if this reflected the opinions of most of Charlotte, Wal-Mart wouldn't be expanding their store in east Charlotte closer to furhter south, Closer to SouthPark. I'm sure you have heard stories, but the reality is not much really happens. Weak people are just scared easily.

And so the comments continue to degenerate. I'm going to take a stab at deleting some of the inflammatory ones. I'd also be curious to hear from readers about shutting off comments entirely. I'm not planning to, just curious for feedback.

Actually, I deleted comments on both sides of the "illegal" issue. The ones I selected for deletion were those that included foul language and personal attacks on other commenters. I have no political agenda regarding the opening of Wal-Mart's new location. I am interested in ways to make this comment section more civil, less bitter and more substantive. I know that's practically impossible on the Internet, but I'm interested in hearing what you think. Can it be done? Can comments be a civil forum, or is the lure of anonymity and vitriol too strong?

Hmm, didnt some lady get killed at Southpark right smack in the middle of the day? And in such an 'affluent' area? We can list more crimes for the 'affluent' areas as well. Every area has crime and yes, some areas more then others. But guess what, many thieves, criminals and etc (and they can be white, just as easily as any other ethnic group) are actually fairly smart. Im in a so called 'affluent' area and crime has gotten really bad. So bad, its scary. Why? Because the criminals (again, no matter the color) are smart enough to target a 'wealthy area' cause thats where the money is. If your a criminal, would you rather rob a broken down $50k house or a nice half mil house? Would you rather mug some lady walking around collecting bottles and cans or a lady walking around with her nice diamond necklace?

My point is, all you racists are just nuts. Crime happens everwhere and criminals come in every shape, color and form.

I agree with the Karma post. Karma is real and I suspect most of these racists (im a caucasian) idiots will feel the wraith of Karma and they will deserve it imo.

People should not steriotype. Not all blacks are bad, not all hispanics are bad. Plenty of caucasian criminals as well.....People should never judge a book by its cover. Yet they do and I know firsthand. I have long hair. I am self employeed so I dress in my favorite raggedy blue jeans. I dont shave but about once a week (yes, I shower and am clean..lol..heck, I shower 3 times a day..brush my teeth 4 times a day)...but yes, I certainly look like I could be a criminal and unfortunately, many people treat me as such just by looking at me.

But ya know what? I could care less.Their loss. Im probably one of the nicest people around. I'll help anybody in need and if people choose to steriotype me cause of my long hair, unshaven face and raggedy blue jeans, then they miss out on knowing a great person who would help anybody.

So as you racists are busy running away from me due to your nutso steriotypes, your likely running straight to that guy in his 3 piece suit, thinking "he's safe, he'll help me", when in the end, it is more then likely that I'll be kicking the crap out of that guy in the 3 piece suit for whatever it is he is doing to you. Steriotyping (sp?) is simply wrong and can land you in hot water. Your scared of the hispanic guy so you run to the nice dressed caucasion, but it is just as likely the hispanic guy is the good guy and the well dressed caucasion is the bad guy who will end up robbing you while the hispanic would have helped you.

Although I dont believe in censorship and feel strongly about our freedom of choice and speech, I do feel many comments are way crossing the line andf should be deleted.

Allowing hate only musters more hate. If people are allowed to make these horrifying comments and they are not deleted, they will just keep spreading hate. If they are deleted, maybe they wont waste time writing such horrible comments as they would never be seen if they are deleted quickly and maybe that would get at least some people to not even bother making these horrifying racist comments. So, delete away, it will do more good then harm ;>)

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Katie Peralta

Katie Peralta

About this blog

Katie Peralta covers retail and breaking business news for the Charlotte Observer. She previously wrote about the U.S. economy from inside the Beltway. If you have a tip or story idea, you can reach Katie at 704-358-5079 or by email. She's also on twitter: @katieperalta.